A Love Of A Lifetime
by JuliaBeth
Summary: The daughter of Augustus McCrea learns about survival, life, and love as she comes of age at The Hat Creek Ranch in Montana. Please read and Review.
1. Growing Up

Samantha McCrea stood in her small garden, tending to her tomatoes. She hated tomatoes, she was only growing them because Newt said he liked them.  
  
He had made her this garden plot.  
  
Of course she knew he had only done that to get her out of his way while he was range boss.  
  
The Captian had gone back to Texas to bury her father and wouldn't take her with him. He said it would be too dangerous for just the two of them.  
  
She couldn't believe her Pa was dead. It didn't seem possible, but he was and had been for nearly a year. Sometimes she pretended that he wasn't really dead. That he was just gone off hunting, or on ranger business. He had often had to do one or the other in her short 12 years of life.  
  
She was the only female at the Hat Creek Ranch but none of men would dare mess with her for fear that Captian McCrea would come back and haunt them or the Captian would fire them or Newt or Pea would shoot them.  
  
She had lived with the Captains, Newt, Pea and Deets all her life, since her Ma had died just hours after she was born. She had even came on a cattle drive with them to Montana.  
  
She wished she hadn't. She hated Montana. Everything was so messed up here.  
  
Deets was right, they had no business leaving their own land and coming up here where they were strangers.  
  
Deets was gone, Papa was gone, the Captian was back, but he acted as if she just a nuisance, always grumbling that Gus should have left her with Clara Allen.  
  
Well, that would have suited her just fine. She loved Miss Clara and Miss Clara loved her. Newt loved her too. But now he worked for the Dunnagans and the Captian wouldn't let him come back even if he wanted too. All over some silly fight.  
  
Yeah, she hated Montana.  
  
Now, eveyone was talking about these horses that were coming, and when the Captian and Pea would be back with them and the people bringing them up.  
  
Well, she didn't care if they ever got there. She wondered if she could slip off and go see Newt at Kennelworth.  
  
Nah, it wouldn't work. It was too far to walk and someone would see her leaving on her horse.  
  
So she just stood there, tending her tomatoes grown for someone who didn't even live there anymore.  
  
Stupid Jasper. Why did he have to go off and get Newt in that fight? She decided she hated Jasper too. Now, he was stuck watching her, since the Captian had brought him back to the ranch to recuperate after Pea accidentally shot him.  
  
Oh, well, at least he was being nicer to Pea now.  
  
She still didn't like Jasper though. If it wasn't for him, she would still have her Newt. She stuck her tongue out at him. Then giggled when he paid no attention. She could easily slip away from him. Deets had taught her how to be so quiet and so quick, she could escape anyone, but Jas wasn't even watching her. He was cleaning a bridle.  
  
Maybe she could go see Newt. Her Newt.  
  
Chapter two  
  
Just as Sam was getting her courage screwed up to leave, an awful commotion started up near the gate.  
  
"OPEN THE GATES!! HERE THEY COME!!!!" Everyone was shouting.  
  
She pressed up on her tiptoes to see and then she couldn't believe her eyes. It seemed there were hundreds of horses all running towards the ranch. Horses of all sizes and colors. She thought it had to be the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. She walked to the edge of her garden fence and watched with pleasure as all the horses came in.  
  
She giggled when Gideon Walker winked at her.  
  
He rode over to her.  
  
"Miss Sammie, you look prettier than ever," he teased.  
  
"Why, thank you, Ranger Walker," she pretended to curtsy, holding her arms out wide as if she were wearing a Paris ball gown instead of a pair of boys britches and one of Newt's cast off shirts.  
  
"Would you allow me to escort you to the ball, ma'am," he played along.  
  
"Oh, Ranger Walker I am so tired of balls, would you be so dear as to take me to see all those beuatiful horses," she grinned.  
  
Gideon laughed. This girl was certianly Augustus McCrea's child all right. "It would be my pleasure, ma'am."  
  
He lifted her over the fence and onto his horse. "Give him a kick and lets go."  
  
She did so. She held the riens expertly even though he kept a loose hold on them himself. Stallions were known to run or fight if they smelt other horses.  
  
"Mr. Gideon, who's that?" She gestured at a young Mexican lady.  
  
"That's Au...a woman who works with the men we hired," he answered quickly not knowing how to tell her that was her big sister.  
  
"The Captian hired a woman?!"  
  
"Yeah, I was pretty amazed myself," Gideon laughed.  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Augustina saw the girl-child sitting in front of Ranger Walker and wondered if this was the sister Clara had been telling her about.  
  
She looked around.  
  
It had to be. The only other girls around were Clara's.  
  
Well, it didn't matter she had other matters to take care of.  
  
Like Capitan Call.  
  
After the excitement over the horses was over, Gideon took her back to the yard.  
  
"You know, Miss Sammie, there's somebody here who's just dying to see you. Why don't you run on over the porch and see who it is?" He sat her back on the ground.  
  
She drug her feet going up to the porch until the lady on it turned around.  
  
"MRS. CLARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She ran to the woman, who lifted her up in a smothering hug.  
  
"There's my Samantha!" Clara exclaimed hugging the girl to her. Augustus McCrea had been her life's love and now that he was gone his daughters were all that was left of him and she cherished them.  
  
Even Augustina who didn't know Gus.  
  
"Let me look at you" she said, holding Sam out at arm's length. She remembered the last time she had seen Sam. It had been two years before when they had been driving the cattle up to Montana. She had urged Gus to leave the child in her care as he had Lorena, but he wouldn't hear of it. Claimed he had taken care of her thus far and he would continue to do so.  
  
Well, she still as skinny as a toothpick but that could hardly be blamed on Gus now.  
  
Woodrow should have been here taking better care of her, instead of running all over the country, fullfilling Gus's crazy request.  
  
Well, now she was here, and she would make sure Sammie was well looked after. First thing being to get her to eating good.  
  
"Let's get you inside," Clara smiled. "You look cold."  
  
Sammie allowed herself to be led inside enjoying having Clara mother her.  
  
They had been inside for just a few minutes when Woodrow burst in the door.  
  
"I thought you should know. I have another business partner."  
  
Ausgustina stepped through the door.  
  
"Who's the daughter of Augustus McCrea."  
  
"That's just fine," Clara nodded approvingly. Niether she or Gideon saw the dark look that had come over Sam's face until she bounded from her chair.  
  
"NO!!!" She yelled giving Augustina a hard shove. "No, you're not! No, you're not!" She lit into Augustina hitting her with her fist. "Take it back!!"  
  
Woodrow pulled her off Augustina, though he couldn't stop her from fighting.  
  
"Stop it, girl!" Woodrow warned, trying to catch her arms. "You hear me? You stop this right now!"  
  
She stopped and stared at the Captian. She had seen what he was capable of if he was angry enough and she sure didn't want him to be angry with her.  
  
"Now, you listen to me, Samantha McCrea. This Augustina and your Pa was her Pa too. That's something she had no more control over than you did. Now I don't want to ever see you behave the way you just did again. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"  
  
"Yes, sir." She looked down at the floor.  
  
"Now, 'pologize to her" Woodrow commanded.  
  
She turned to face her 'sister.' "I'm sorry I hit you, But I ain't sorry for what I said," she added, giving Woodrow a defiant look. "And I ain't sorry that I don't like you!"  
  
She broke free of Woodrow grip and ran to the only place that was truly hers. Her garden.  
  
"Well," Clara sighed. "That went well."  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Sam barely said two words to anyone the rest of the day or night. She was obediant enough. She came in when she was told to. She washed up for supper as she was told and went to bed when the Captian said, but she refused to do more than answer yes or no to direct questions.  
  
She felt as though everyone was in on some cruel trick to take the only thing that had ever been truly hers and hers alone, away. Her Papa.  
  
If this girl was really her sister, then why had she waited so long to show up? Sam could have used a sister a year ago but not now. Now she didn't need anyone. She had spent a year up here. Working, learning, surviving.  
  
All she wanted to do was crawl into Newt's strong arms and tell him her problems.  
  
Newt would understand.  
  
He always understood.  
  
But she couldn't do that because Newt now lived at Kennelworth.  
  
She laid in her bedroll listening to Clara list all the things they didn't have that she thought they needed. Like beds. She didn't know why they needed feather beds now. They had been sleeping in bedrolls for over a year. A few more months wouldn't hurt anybody.  
  
But if Clara's list was going to get them a trip into town, then Sam was happy to play along.  
  
The next morning she was seated in a buggy next to Ms. Clara and Martin Johnson. Clara's two girls and Many Tears were ahead of them and Gideon and July brought up the rear.  
  
She was busy telling Clara all she knew about why Newt was no longer with them when Gideon rode up beside them.  
  
She giggled as she listened to him flirt with Ms. Clara. Then she heard gunshots. She looked to the ridge above them and saw several men.  
  
Gideon began to fire back and yell for everyone to get down, and stay still. Several of the vaqueros riding with them did the same.  
  
The buggy overtuned leaving her exposed to the gunmen. She saw thier driver laying on the ground a few steps away.  
  
He was dead.  
  
Trying not to think about it, she grabbed his gun and began to shoot back. Firing a gun was something she had been taught how to do at an early age. Being able to shoot and shoot well had been a matter of survival for her.  
  
She saw Clara's girls move to cover behind thier wagon.  
  
Then she felt a bullet burn into her leg, then another into her side.  
  
Whoever was shooting at them didn't just want to kill them, they wanted to massacre them.  
  
Many Tears was dead.  
  
Clara's oldest girl was hit in the leg.  
  
Clara was shot in shoulder and the side.  
  
Gideon was shot more times that Sam could see.  
  
Several of the vaqueros were dead.  
  
July had riden back for help, but Sam knew they would all be dead before help arrived.  
  
When the bullets stopped she was lying a few feet from Gideon and Mrs. Clara.  
  
The only ones who had escaped injured was Ms. Clara's youngest daughter and Martin.  
  
"Do you have any bullets left in that gun?" Gideon whispered to her.  
  
She nodded, not trusting her voice not to scream.  
  
"Good. Now, listen to me, Sweetheart. Your Daddy's proud, he so proud of you for protecting those girls like that. But this ain't over. They're going to come in, to see what's left. When they do I need you to sit up and shoot. Shoot anyone you think you can hit. I know you're hurting but can you do that for me?"  
  
She nodded again.  
  
"Good girl. Now, don't move till I tell you to."  
  
She laid as still as if she were dead for what seemed like an eternity but was really only seconds.  
  
She heard Gideon whisper to Clara.  
  
Mrs. Clara was dead.  
  
He was saying goodbye.  
  
She heard more men's voices.  
  
She listened for Gideon.  
  
Those men had killed Mrs. Clara but she wasn't going to let them kill anyone else.  
  
"NOW!" Gideon yelled.  
  
She sat up and fired. She shot the remaining three shells in her gun and saw two men fall. It never registered to her that she had just killed them. All she knew was that now they wouldn't kill anyone else.  
  
Another bullet hit her in the shoulder and blessed darkness overtook her.  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
When Sammie awoke, Newt was sitting next to her. She tried to get up, but he held her still.  
  
"Shh.. It's all over now," he said. "You're gonna be just fine."  
  
"But, Ms.Clara?"  
  
"She's gonna be okay too. In fact she's already been awake wondering about you." He pushed her hair back from her face. "You've given everyone quite a scare."  
  
"She's not dead?"  
  
"No. She's very much alive. She told everyone what you and Gideon done. I'm proud of you, little bit." He smiled at her.  
  
"Where is Mr. Gideon?" She asked. He had been shot so badly.  
  
"I'm sorry, Samantha. He didn't make it." Newt looked away, not wanting to see the hurt in her eyes. He had comforted her after Deets died then again when Captian Gus died. He didn't know if either one of them could stand to lose anyone else.  
  
Gently as he could, he lifted her into his arms and held her until her tears subsided.  
  
He held her again during the funeral. Then he had carried her back in the house, settled her on her bedroll and told her to either get some sleep or he would stop visiting her.  
  
When she awoke, she was surprised to see Augustina sitting beside her.  
  
"Where's Newt?" She asked.  
  
"He is with the Capitan," Augustina answered. "Here, you need to drink this." She held up a cup of milk. "It will help you get your strength back."  
  
Sammie struggled to sit up pushing Augustina's helping hands away. "I can do it myself," she declared. After doing so Augustina handed her the cup.  
  
"I now my being here, and being who I am has come as a great shock to you," Augustina said. "I do not wish to force you to accept me as your sister, but I would like it if we could at least be friends. Are you willing to try to be friends with me?"  
  
Sammie nodded. "No harm in that, I reckon."  
  
She took another drink of milk then said "You will marry July?"  
  
Augustina smiled. "Yes, one day."  
  
"I will marry Newt." Sam spoke it as if it was already a fact.  
  
"How old are you?" Augustina laughed.  
  
"12."  
  
"Isn't that a little young to be thinking of marriage?"  
  
"I didn't say I would marry him today.Just someday, like you will marry July someday."  
  
The next day, Sam refused to lay around in the house any longer. She had hobbled around until she was almost too sore to move.  
  
Then the Captian came in.  
  
"Come on, Sam," he said. "Let's go meet Newt. He should be on his way home. Only Woodrow knew Newt would never really come back now. He was grown and would soon set out on his own. He also knew Sam needed to be able to say goodbye to him, if she would move on.  
  
He held her on his horse in front of him, neither speaking, neither having to speak.  
  
Sam now knew the Captian cared for her. More than once she had woken to find him watching over her. But she knew he would never say so. Words just weren't his way. She could accept that.  
  
Besides, she was a McCrea. Words were her department. Especially argumentive, said only to rile the Captian words.  
  
Newt rode up to the two of them.  
  
"Looking for someone?" he asked.  
  
"Found him," Woodrow answered. "Get things said?"  
  
"What could be I guess," Newt answered.  
  
The Captian dismounted then helped Sam down.  
  
She leaned heavily on Newt as the three of them stood overlooking their ranch.  
  
"Well," Woodrow said, mounting back up. "Let's get back to work, boy. I reckon you can handle horses as well as I can now."  
  
"I won't be going back with you, Captian," Newt said and Sam suddenly felt as though her heart had stopped. She had just gotten him back, she couldn't lose him again.  
  
"This is your dream," she heard him saying. "Not mine. I can't live a life I didn't choose either Captian. I understand that now."  
  
"We'll be sorry to lose you."  
  
"I'm sorry to go, but there's no other way. I'd be obliged if you'd say goodbye to Pea and the boys for me, though."  
  
The Captian nodded that he would.  
  
Then Newt knelt in front of Sammie.  
  
"Saying goodbye to you is the hardest part, little bit." He hugged her. "You keep those boys in line, all right?"  
  
She nodded, trying her best not to cry again.  
  
"I'll be back one day," he promised. He kissed her cheek.  
  
"I love you, Samantha."  
  
"I love you too Newt."  
  
She let him help her onto the Captian's horse.  
  
Then nearly fainted by what she heard next.  
  
"Dobbs," the Captian said, suddenly. "That was your mother's name. Call. That's your name. Its Scots so they tell me. It has had no dishonor that I am aware of."  
  
Newt nodded. Then rode off to make good of that name.  
  
The Captian was Newt's Pa. Now it all made sense.  
  
She took all this in until another thought came into her head.  
  
Newt had said he loved her. He loved her. 


	2. Meeting Hannah, Newt's in Trouble

Chapter Six  
  
Dear Samantha,  
  
I hope this letter finds you in good health. I miss you and the boys very much. I am in a town called Sweetwater as I write this to you, but I am leaving soon for the next town I suppose. I reckon I'll have to find a map and see what the next town is. I look forward to hearing from you, when you get the time. I have to go now, but I will write to you again soon.  
  
Love you always,  
  
Newt  
  
Captian Call took the mail from the young clerk in Miles City and quickly flipped through the letters. Finding one bearing Sam McCrea in Newt's handwriting, he slipped it inside his jacket.  
  
That girl didn't need his letters disrupting the life she was building out on thier ranch.  
  
It had been two years since Newt had left Hat Creek. He had sent Sam a letter, not every week, but almost every week of those two years.  
  
Some were thick and filled with adventures, some were just little notes written on whatever scrap of paper he could find. But all the letters, just as this would be, had been put in Gus's saddle bags, hidden in a trunk out in the barn.  
  
At first Sam had waited. Waited for Newt, or some word from Newt but eventually, she stopped waiting and started living, throwing all she had into running that ranch. She had learned every task from breaking horses to hiring and firing hands.  
  
She was determined to make that ranch a success. That's why he knew he was going to have a fight on his hands when he told she could not go with the men to drive the cattle to market.  
  
She didn't disappoint him.  
  
She fussed and argued until Woodrow, fed up with it, declared that if she didn't hush, he was going to carry her out for much needed trip to the woodshed. She was too young, it was too dangerous and that was that.  
  
That was, also, how she came to be standing in the yard, the day Newt's telegram came.  
  
"This is for Captian Call," the deliver boy said.  
  
"He ain't here," she replied. "I can take it though."  
  
He reluctantly handed her the envelope, then rode off.  
  
"What is it?" Sarah Pickett asked.  
  
"It's from Newt!"  
  
"Well, open it," Sarah urged.  
  
Sam opened it, then read aloud,  
  
"To Captian Woodrow Call, Hat Creek Ranch, Miles City, Montana. STOP.  
  
Getting Hitched. STOP.  
  
Love, Newt and Hannah. STOP."  
  
"Newt's getting married? Oh, that's wonderful," Sarah replied.  
  
Sam held the telegram out to her, then went in the house.  
  
Feeling very childish, she ran into the small room Woodrow had built her, fell on her bed and cried.  
  
It wasn't long before she felt someone sit down beside her. She smelt Augustina's perfume.  
  
"Do not cry, little one. Have faith." She said nothing else, just patted Sam's back and wiped away her tears.  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Over the next year, Newt wrote consistantly. And consistantly, Woodrow hid the letters.  
  
Then one day the letters stopped coming.  
  
Days passed, a week, a week and half.  
  
Woodrow knew something was wrong. He began to pack up his gear, he was going to Curtis Wells.  
  
Sam caught him in the barn.  
  
"I'm going too."  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"Yes, Captian, I am. I'm nearly fifteen years old. I can work as hard as any man, and I can take care of myself. You know that." She stood hands on her hips, ready for a battle.  
  
"Okay. Be ready to ride at first light."  
  
She was shocked by his answer.  
  
"Yes..sir."  
  
"I'll take you to Curtis Wells, but, if I tell you to stay there or come back here, you do it. No arguments. I can only look after one of you at a time."  
  
"Yes, sir." She ran inside to get ready to go.  
  
The next morning, they left at first light like the Captian had said. They rode hard, stopping only when the horses needed the rest. But it was worth it when they rode into Curtis Wells, just after dark.  
  
They came to a stop in front of the hotel.  
  
The sign read The Lonesome Dove.  
  
"Well, I'll be damned." Woodrow muttered.  
  
Sam refused to believe anything was wrong until they stepped inside. In one corner of the dining room a group of people were having a conversation about Newt.  
  
A dark-headed young man said, "Listen, Hannah, Newt's probably sitting by a fire, embrassed as hell, trying to figure out how he's gonna get back to town with just one boot."  
  
But Newt was too good a horseman to let the HellBitch throw him. Sam knew this and that knowledge scared her.  
  
"You're probably right," A young lady with the same dark hair laughed nervously.  
  
"Newt wouldn't let the HellBitch throw him." The Captian spoke in a low, almost frightening voice.  
  
An older gentleman stood up.  
  
"Can I help you, sir?"  
  
"I'm Captian Woodrow F. Call. This is Sam McCrea."  
  
The young lady stood and crossed the floor to them.  
  
"I'm Hannah Call. Your daughter in law."  
  
Sam studied her up close.  
  
She was beautiful. And feminine and none of the things Sam was.  
  
During dinner they learned that Newt had been escorting a prisoner up to the territorial prison.  
  
He had been gone almost a week and earlier that day, the HellBitch had come tearing back into town with just Newt's boot hanging from her saddle.  
  
That wasn't good. Sam knew it. She could feel it. Newt was hurt.  
  
The next morning, the Captian was preparing to leave and no amount of Sam's begging, arguing, or pleading was going to make him let her come with him.  
  
She wasn't giving up though. She was standing next to his horse telling him how she could track as well as Deets, if he would just give the chance.  
  
"So can I," he replied. "Now I told you, you were staying here and that's the end of it."  
  
She didn't have time to argue. A body was brought into town. A body wearing Newt's badge. That was all anybody could recognize.  
  
Woodrow studied the body. "That's not my son." Then he returned to his preparing to leave.  
  
"Won't you even stay for the funeral?" Ida Grayson asked.  
  
"Poor fella, but he ain't Newt. Don't know why I should give up daylight for his funeral."  
  
Ida looked at him as if he had horns. "What will I tell your daughter-in- law?" She asked in an icy voice.  
  
"You tell her I'll bring her husband back." He mounted up and rode out of town.  
  
Sam just clung to the Captain's words that that was not his son.  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Sam didn't go the funeral. She just couldn't make herself. If she didn't have to hear the dirt fall on the casket, then she could go on pretending.  
  
Pretending that Newt was still alive, that her Papa was only away hunting and Deets was just out scouting a good place to cross the river.  
  
Death was the one thing she could not accept.  
  
Hannah was not at all what she had expected or wanted her to be. She just couldn't find any wrong in the woman and as much as she didn't want to, she was starting to like her.  
  
She hoped the Captian would hurry back.  
  
When the rest of the town was going to Newt's funeral, she was headed out to Newt's ranch.  
  
She knew there was work to be done, and she wasn't going to let all his hard work go to ruin while he was laid up somewhere, and Hannah was too distrught to see to it.  
  
She spent two days and nights out there, before Hannah finally came home. Only Hannah wasn't alone. Her brother, Austin was with her.  
  
Sam liked Austin. He was a bit green, but he didn't mind lending her a hand when Hannah was sleeping.  
  
Then that Mosby fellow came by, but Sam didn't like him. She didn't trust him.  
  
Apparently, Austin didn't either. He and Hannah had an argument or something because soon after Mosby showed up Austin left.  
  
Sam stayed in the barn. Out of the way, but helping.  
  
Mosby left again and Hannah came out to the barn to tell Sam she was going back to her father's house for a while and Sam was welcome to join her, but Sam refused, saying there was still work that needed to be done.  
  
"No wonder Newt talked about you all the time," Hannah smiled. "You're just like him."  
  
With that, she left.  
  
Sam was out tending to the horses when Hanah came back the next morning.  
  
She thought Hannah would go on in the house, but she just sat there, staring at the house.  
  
Sam started to go to her, but then that Mr. Mosby came back.  
  
He sat in the wagon talking to Hannah for some time, then jumped down and lifted her from the wagon and carried her into the house.  
  
Niether seemed to notice a set of fourteen year old eyes watching them with keen interest.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, long enough that Sam grown bored with watching and had started mucking out the stalls, Clay came out of the house.  
  
He got the wagon and put it up, then he headed into the barn with his and Hannah's horse.  
  
"Planning on staying awhile?" Sam asked, leaning lazily on a post.  
  
Clay jumped. "Miss McCrea," he smiled, recovering quickly. "I didn't know you were here."  
  
"So, I can see."  
  
"I thought that your recent absences from town had meant that you had returned to Miles City," he replied, politely.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Won't Newt's father, your guardian be upset when he returns to town to find you gone?"  
  
"He told me that I couldn't go with him, not that I couldn't go anywhere," Sam replied, coolly.  
  
"Now, answer my question. Are you planning on staying for a while?"  
  
"My dear Samantha, I intended only to help Miz Call out for a while, and wanted to get my horse out of the weather while I did so," he smiled, cursing the young woman standing in front of him. Were all people from Texas as isolent as she and Newt?  
  
"She don't need any help. I have everything taken care of," Sam shot back, not caring for his condensending tone.  
  
"Yes, I can see that you have been doing a nice job for the Calls, but a ranch of this size must have more work than you can handle and wouldn't you feel better having a man around to take care of some of the harder chores?" There was no use in arousing the girl's suspicion.  
  
"Like I said," Sam said. "I can take care of everything, until Newt returns. I think its time you leave."  
  
Clay smiled that undaunted smile of his. He wasn't going to win an argument with this child with words and he could already see that.  
  
He tried the only thing left. Intimadation.  
  
He leaned to her face. So close they were almost touching. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he spoke in a menacing voice. "Listen here, Miss McCrea, I will leave when Hannah tells me to and not a minute before. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
Sam broke his hold on her shoulders and started to saunter out the door. Looking over her shoulder, she said, "Suit yourself, Mr. Mosby, but I'd hate to be you when Newt gets home."  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Sam stayed away from Clay the rest of the day. She wasn't scared of him, as he hoped. She just didn't like him.  
  
She tended to the animals and repaired a broken porch step.  
  
Anything to keep her out of the house.  
  
Hannah, physically and emontionally exhausted, slept all that day and night, but much to Sam's extreme displeasure, Mosby stayed the night.  
  
In the house.  
  
Newt was going to kill him. Sam didn't think Hannah slept with him. She didn't think Hannah even knew he was there, but she couldn't know for sure, she had opted to sleep in the barn.  
  
What ever Hannah did, Sam didn't want to know. She didn't want to know something that could hurt Newt as much as Hannah's being unfaithful would.  
  
(I'm rewriting a bit of LD history since this originally stopped with a kiss. Hope no one minds.)  
  
  
  
Sam had finished every chore she could possibly think to do.  
  
All the work had been caught up on.  
  
Partly because of Mr. Mosby, but Sam didn't like to think about that because she didn't like the fact that Mosby was still there.  
  
Cold forced her inside for a cup of hot coffee. She walked into the house pausing momentarily to remove her jacket and hat then went on into the kitchen, but she would never get that cup of coffee.  
  
Mosby was standing in Hannah's bedroom with Hannah in his arms.  
  
She watched with shocked silence as Mosby lowered his head, then Hannah turned her mouth up to his.  
  
Sam opened her mouth to announce her presence but no words or even sounds would come out. Her feet wouldn't work to carry her away either. She just stood, staring dumbfoundedly as the two kissed, as though they were old lovers. (hehehe)  
  
She stood feet planted, mouth empty, shocked practically senseless until Clay picked Hannah up and carried her to the bed.  
  
A fierce anger began to burn inside her.  
  
At that moment, she could easily understand why the Captian would fight so hard to keep Newt, and her, from being hurt.  
  
Not even really thinking about what she was doing or going to do, she walked out to the barn and pulled her gunbelt and pistol out of her saddle bags.  
  
Settling the belt low on her hips, she strode back in the house.  
  
She stopped just inside the bedroom door, pulled the gun and took aim.  
  
"Well, now, ain't this convient. Guess Newt turned up dead at just the right time for you to, ah.. help out, Mr. Mosby."  
  
Clay and Hannah both stared at her.  
  
"Sam, it's not what you think," Hannah sputtered.  
  
"I sure hope not, because I think you were fixing to commit adultery with this fine, upstanding, or should I say, down-laying, pillar of your community. In Newt's bed, none the less. And if you want to know what else I think, I think this isn't the first time."  
  
Clay started towards her. "Now, you wait just a damn minute!"  
  
She cocked the pistol.  
  
"I wouldn't do that, Mr. Mosby. I have killed men before, and I would kill again, if given a good reason. Like threatening me, touching me, or sleeping with my best friend's wife."  
  
She pointed the gun down at Hannah. "Or being his low-life, cheating, scum of a wife."  
  
"But," Hannah said, futilely. "This isn't what you think."  
  
"Maybe it is, maybe it ain't. I don't know. I just might be wrong. But I do know this. If you hurt MY Newt, I'll kill you."  
  
Easing the hammer back down on her gun, she walked out of the room. She put on her jacket and hat, then went out and saddled her horse. Taking one last look at Newt's ranch, at Newt's dream, she headed back to Curtis Wells.  
  
"She's crazy," Clay said, watching her go. "She's absolutely insane."  
  
"No, she's not," Hannah replied. "She's just in love."  
  
"With who?" Clay scoffed. "Smith and Wesson?"  
  
"Newt." 


	3. Learning to Love

Chapter Ten  
  
Sam wanted to go all the way back to Hat Creek, but she didn't dare, not without the Captian's permission.  
  
She locked herself up in her hotel room, coming down only to eat, hoping not to run into Hannah or any of her family.  
  
It felt like the Captian would never come back. She began to wonder if she hadn't lost them both.  
  
She was sitting at her desk, writing to Augustina when there was a knock on the door.  
  
She opened it.  
  
"NEWT!!!" He was there. At her door. He looked a little worse for the wear, certianly, but he was alive and he was there to see her.  
  
She threw her arms around him.  
  
"Oh, I am so glad you are alive!" She placed a kiss on his cheek.  
  
"Me too," he laughed, returning her hug.  
  
She learned how he had been ambushed and left for dead, and how the Captian had found him and nursed him back to health.  
  
Well, she had known he would do that.  
  
Then the Captian announced it was time for them to leave.  
  
She did as she was told, going out to the barn to saddle thier horses.  
  
Hannah followed her. "I suppose you will be telling Newt what you saw."  
  
She shook her head. "I reckon not."  
  
"Why not? Newt's an honorable man. He wouldn't stand for it if he knew. He would probably divorce me and you can have him, free and clear."  
  
"And have him hate me for the telling of it? I don't think so. Besides, you said it wasn't what I thought, so I must not know what I had seen. My Papa always taught me not to put my nose in the whiskey, unless I knew the brand and I don't know your brand yet. Doesn't matter, anyway. You'll reveal your own self, all in good time."  
  
She left Hannah standing there in the stables.  
  
Hannah stayed in the barn until she had regained her composure.  
  
When she finally joined the others, the sight she saw infuriated her, made her jealous and just a little sad.  
  
Newt was standing close to Sam, his hands resting lightly on her waist, as he whispered in her ear.  
  
Sam was raised up on her tiptoes, her hands on his shoulders for support, as she listened to him. Whatever he was saying, had brought a smile to Sam's face and an occasional giggle from her throat.  
  
They could say what they wanted about how innocent thier relationship was, but at that moment, Hannah could easily see the love between both of them, not just Sam. It hurt to know he was capable of loving someone besides her, whether he realized he did or not.  
  
Woodrow stood watching them, too. His thoughts not so different from Hannah's. Only difference was, he was wondering how things might have turned out if Newt had stayed at Hat Creek.  
  
Hannah walked over to Woodrow.  
  
"You're family, now. Thank you for bringing him back to me."  
  
She kissed his cheek.  
  
"Thank you, ma'am." He said stiffly.  
  
"Well, girl," he addressed Sam. "It ain't a holiday. I imagine they's lots of work waiting for us at the ranch."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
She hugged Newt. "Goodbye," she whispered. "I love you."  
  
"I still love you, too."  
  
She mounted her horse and with a wink and a grin, was gone.  
  
"You know, Hannah," Newt said. "When I left Hat Creek, Sam was a little girl, but now she's all but grown. In just two years."  
  
"Two years is a lot, sometimes, Newt."  
  
  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
Sam laid in her bed, to cold to sleep. This blizzard wasn't the first she had seen since coming to Montana, but it was by far the worst she had seen.  
  
A knock on her window startled her. She sighed. Probably some hand who needed medical attention and didn't want the Captian to know they had been hurt. Fighting wasn't allowed at the Hat Creek. Since Sam had become handy with a needle and salves, these visits after Pea and the Captian were asleep, weren't unusual.  
  
She hopped from the bed, wrapping a thick blanket around her for the little warmth it would provide, and hurried to the window.  
  
"Newt!" She gasped as she opened it. It had been a little over a month, since she had seen him in Curtis Wells. "What are you doing here? Where's Hannah?"  
  
"Freezing." He answered, ignoring her other question. "Let me in."  
  
"Okay. Go around to the front and I'll open the door." She started to shut the window, but he caught it.  
  
"NO! I mean, no, Sam. I don't want the Captian knowing just yet. I.., I just can't face him right this minute."  
  
She moved back from the window, giving him room to climb in. As he turned to shut the window, Sam giggled.  
  
"What?" He asked, seeing no humor in his situation.  
  
"I was just thinking what would Papa say if he could see you climbing in my window in the middle of the night."  
  
"Something, I'm sure I wouldn't like," he laughed also amused by the thought. "And he'd probably do the talking with that big Colt of his."  
  
"Not for you." She answered seriously.  
  
Newt drew the thick curtians over the window, trying to put some warmth back in the tiny room.  
  
He pulled Sam into his arms and held her close for a moment, needing the warmth of another human being. Of Sam. He hadn't been able to get her out of his mind since she left Curtis Wells.  
  
He thought of her when he was eating, when he was breaking horses, when he was sitting beside Hannah in church, as he sat thruogh Sunday dinner with the Peale's, when he was talking to Ida, whenever he was awake and breathing, he was thinking of Sam. He had even thought about her when he was making love to Hannah.  
  
"Newt," she said, knowing her question could push him away, but having to ask. "Where's Hannah?"  
  
"I left her." He let her go and looked around the room. "When did the Captain build this?"  
  
"After you left. Said a growing girl needed her privacy. Ms. Clara probably put the idea in his head. She bought the bed and the furnishings."  
  
He nodded, knowing the room might have been the Captian's idea, but not the beautiful white furniture. He rubbed his hands together trying to get some warmth back into them.  
  
He saw the small fireplace. "Why isn't this lit? It's as cold in here as it is outside."  
  
"The fire went out," she answered, noticing how hard Newt was shivering, and the blue around his mouth and in his fingertips. "I couldn't get it to light back and didn't want to wake the Captian or Pea. I'll try again."  
  
"I'll do it." He knelt in front of the wood, get first a small piece of kindling then the large pieces of wood to catch fire.  
  
"How long have you been riding?" She questioned.  
  
"All day."  
  
"In this blizzard? Are you crazy?" She removed the blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders. "You could have frozen to death."  
  
He shrugged. Riding off in the middle of a blizzard probably wasn't the smartest idea he'd ever had but then neither was spending another night in Curtis Wells with both Hannah and Mosby, and Hannah's memory haunting him.  
  
Sam pulled her rocking chair close to the fire. "Here, sit." She commanded then took one of his hands between hers and began to rub the cold out of it. Frostbite was a very real threat she had learned. "Just your luck, you'll have a case of frostbite. I would get you some coffee, or tea, but I'd have to walk over the Captian to get to it. Light a sleeper as he is, he'd be sure to wake up."  
  
Newt was touched by her actions. She was shivering herself, as the fire hadn't yet warmed the room, but she was more worried about him having frostbite, or having to face the Captian, than her own comfort.  
  
"Take those half frozen boots off. You need to get warm."  
  
He watched her as she sat down on the hearth to help him remove his boots.  
  
With the firelight glowing behind her, making her red hair look like a firey halo, he thought she must be the most beautiful lady he had ever seen. It was hard to believe this was the same little girl he used to give piggyback rides to. "Sam, how old are you now?"  
  
"15. Just had a birthday last week," she grinned impishly, reminding him that Sam would always be Sam, no matter how grown up she was. "My niece and nephew gave me a party."  
  
"Niece and nephew?"  
  
"Yeah, Augustina and July have a two year old girl, and Martin."  
  
Newt smiled, glad that Sam had accepted Augustina as her sister.  
  
"They put streamers and paper signs all over the place. The Captian loved it, let me tell you." Her eyes glittered mischeiviously.  
  
"I'll bet he did." Newt answered.  
  
She took his other hand and began rubbing it. He realized he ached to hold her. Not cradled in his arms as he had so many times when she was a child, but as a man holds a woman. "Come here." He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped the blanket around them both. "I'll get warm faster this way."  
  
She gave him a look that said she didn't believe him, but didn't say anything or move either.  
  
She sat rigidly for a few moments then relaxed against him as the fire warmed the room and them. He gently caressed her arms, inhaled the scent of jasmines in her hair. She stirred a little in his lap and he knew Captian Gus would have shot him for the thoughts THAT provoked.  
  
He knew she was full of questions and he wanted to answer them, but just couldn't seem to find the words.  
  
Finally he spoke.  
  
"She cheated on me."  
  
Sam sighed. She couldn't hide that she knew from him. If he found out later it could destroy thier friendship.  
  
"I know, Newt. I saw her. I didn't think it was my place to tell you though."  
  
"Hannah told me you saw. You're right. It wasn't your place. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe the right time. I don't know. She said it was my fault for leaving her alone all those times." His words were filled with such hurt, it hurt Sam to hear his voice. She hated Hannah for blaming Newt for her own shortcomings.  
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
"Divorce her."  
  
Sam sat up, shocked by his words. Despite what Hannah had said to her, she never really believed Newt would do such a thing. "But, Hannah loves you, regardless of what she did."  
  
"No, she doesn't, Sam. The divorce was her idea. She was in love with the image of me. Her rough, tough cowboy. But like all images, time was bound to see through. And it did. We haven't been right for some time. Though if Mosby thinks she really loves him, he's a bigger fool than I was." His words were bitter.  
  
"You are nobody's fool, Newt Call." She replied. "So, what now?"  
  
"I gave her our house, our land, everything but my horses. I've raised them, they're mine, and I'll be damned if he's going to use them to further his plans. Decided to take my horses and come back here. Maybe the Captian will give me a job." He answered.  
  
"He will," she replied, confidently. "What about Hannah's family? What do they think of all this?" She knew Austin Peale was Newt's best friend.  
  
"Josiah goes along with whatever Hannah wants, so as long as she thinks she's happy, he's okay with it. Austin don't like it. Took my side. Said Hannah was stupid and fickle and a lot of other things I won't repeat to a lady. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Austin in the future. I don't think he'll stay now. Not with the tension this mess has put in his family. I'm sorry for that. He said that ever since his mother died it had been him against Hannah and Josiah. I could see that. He also said in the case of our friendship, water was thicker than blood. He's a good friend."  
  
"You're a good friend." Sam replied.  
  
"Just a lousy husband."  
  
"You're a wonderful husband, I'll bet. You just haven't found the right wife." She leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek, but he turned his head, meeting her lips with his own.  
  
When she pulled away, he tried to apologize.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sam. I.."  
  
She interrupted him by returning his kiss. He quickly gained the upperhand again, holding her tightly against him. He ran his toungue across her lips. She gasped at the strange new sensation and he took the opportunity to slide his toungue into her mouth. Caustiously, he felt her reaction.  
  
Sam didn't know what to think, or feel or do. No one had ever kissed her before, much less in such an intimate way. She tentatively touch her toungue to his and began to mimic his actions.  
  
Both Lizzie Pickett and Augustina had told her about kissing like this, and she had found the way they described it disgusting and she swore she wouldn't let any man put his toungue in her mouth, but now that it had happened, she quickly decided she like it.  
  
They continue to kiss for what seemed like and eternity to Sam but was really just a few minutes. It left her breathless with a funny feeling growing in her center.  
  
Groaning, Newt tore his mouth from hers. He hadn't known a simple kiss would make him feel like that, or that it would be that hard to stop kissing her.  
  
"I'm ready to face the Captian now," he said, . "I just needed to talk to you first. I knew you would understand. He may not."  
  
He stood, gently setting her on the floor. "You need to get back to bed. You'll probably catch cold since I've had you up half the night. Talking." He struggled to get his boots back on.  
  
She smiled. The Captian didn't think anybody should sit up the night. Talking.  
  
"Can't you wait till morning to talk to the Captian?"  
  
He opened the curtians as she climbed back in her bed.  
  
"It is morning."  
  
She looked out and sure enough the first few rays of light were beginning to streak across the sky.  
  
"Use the door, Newt," she laughed, realizing he was going to go back out the window.  
  
He gave her an incredulous look. "I'll have a hard enough time with the Captian without coming out of your bedroom this time of the morning."  
  
"Good point." She watched as he climbed out the window.  
  
"I love you, Newt Call." She said, as he shut it. He smiled and nodded, then was gone.  
  
Sam laid thier, wondering if she had dreamed this night, until she heard Newt pounding on the front door. No, it was real.  
  
Her Newt was home.  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
Sam waited exactly half an hour before she got dressed and came out of her room.  
  
The Captian, Pea, and Newt were sitting at the table, having a cup of coffee.  
  
"I am sorry to hear about the trouble with your wife. She seemed real nice," she heard the Captian say. "But you'll have a job here if that's what you."  
  
"I do, sir, and I thank you," Newt answered politely.  
  
"No need for thanks, just hard work. You helped make this ranch what it is. I won't turn you away from it."  
  
"Yes, sir. I plan to work hard, sir."  
  
She smiled. Their roles always would be the Captian in charge.  
  
"Never known you to do much else," Woodrow admitted. "I will say this, though, Isolm Pickett's top hand. July Johnson's second. They've worked hard to earn those spots. I won't take 'em away from 'em."  
  
"No, sir, I wouldn't expect you too."  
  
"NEWT!" She rushed to him as if just seeing him. "I'm so happy to see you again."  
  
He hugged her with as much enthuasiam, knowing the Captian would wonder why if they didn't behave this way.  
  
"Yeah, half an hour's a long time," Woodrow replied, staring at his coffee cup.  
  
They both paled and stared at him.  
  
"You knew?" Sam asked.  
  
Woodrow nodded. "Heard ya'll talking."  
  
"Why didn't you say something?"  
  
"Figured Newt would come to me when he was ready."  
  
"Ya' ain't mad, Captian?" Newt asked, somewhat apperhensively.  
  
"Should I be?" Woodrow countered.  
  
"No, no." Newt answered in disbelief. Time was Woodrow would have shot first and asked questions later.  
  
"Well, then, girl, time you get started on breakfast." Woodrow pointed at the kitchen. "You got three hungry men waiting on it."  
  
"Yes, sir." She grinned, then began fixing Gus's famous biscuits.  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
Newt was working on a house. He had been back at hat Creek for over year, and couldn't remember why he had left.  
  
He was happy again. As happy as when he and Hannah had..., No he was happier than he had ever been with Hannah. Happier than he had ever been in his life.  
  
Sam was supposed to be coming out for a picnic with him. He had told her only to show up, but she had insisted on getting the food, laughingly claiming that he was a lousy cook of anything but biscuits and eggs.  
  
That was just as well, he would probably ruin anything he tried to fix today. Today was the day. The house was weeks from being finished. The outside was done.  
  
It was to be two stories, with a porch that wrapped all the way around. the kind of house Sam had always dreamed of living in. He was going to see to it that he made all her dreams come true. It had cost him the better part of his years pay not to mention hours of hard work, but it was well worth it, when he saw the look in her eyes, the first time he had let her come out to see it with him.  
  
He stood to wipe the sweat from his brow.  
  
"Hey, cowboy."  
  
He turned to see Sam standing behind him.  
  
"Hey, darling." He put his arms around her waist. "How long have you been standing there?"  
  
After a long kiss, she answered, "Long enough to see that I'm the luckiest woman in Montana."  
  
"Is that a fact?" He kissed her again.  
  
"Umm-hmmm." She snuggled in his arms. At first, Newt's affectionate manner had embrassed her. He was always kissing her or holding her hands in front of everyone, but now she loved it.  
  
She was happy he wanted everyone to see how much he loved her.  
  
"Let's get lunch." She pulled him out to the wagon. "Here ya' go." She handed him a large picnic basket. "Take this inside."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," he grinned. "I live to serve."  
  
"Good," she replied, winking at him, over her shoulder as she climbed up on the wagon wheel to retrieve the blanket.  
  
He set the basket inside the doorway. then went back out. Catching her as she stepped down, he swung her around in his arms.  
  
"Newt Call, what are you doing?" She giggled.  
  
"Practicing," he replied, carrying her into the house.  
  
"For what?"  
  
He just shrugged as he sat her down. He picked up the basket. "What have you got in here? I'm starving."  
  
"Food. Where do you want to eat?"  
  
"In the kitchen," he replied as if that was obvious. "That's where most people eat."  
  
"All these rooms look alike," she laughed.  
  
"Be careful, you just might hurt my feelings," he replied. "The kitchen is the one with a sink."  
  
He pulled her to the left side of the large main room.  
  
"Oh." She stuck her toungue out at him, as she unfolded the blanket. "Sit."  
  
"Yes, ma'am. You sure are bossy today." He teased.  
  
"Careful you don't hurt my feelings," she shot back. "I won't feed you if you do."  
  
"I'll be good," he promised.  
  
They set out the food and ate. After lunch was over, sam was sitting on the blanket, now upstairs, watching Newt skillfully making a window sill.  
  
"Newt, this house is going to be so beautiful when you finish it."  
  
"I'm glad you think so," he replied. He put his tools aside and came over to sit beside her.  
  
"Why is that?" She asked, allowing him to gather her up in his arms.  
  
"Because, I'm building it for you."  
  
She turned her head to look at him. "That's sweet." She gave him a small peck on the cheek.  
  
"It's more than sweet," he answered. "Sam, Samantha will you marry me?"  
  
She sat silently for more than a minute.  
  
Then smiled. "Newt Call, if you don't know the answer to that, then you're dumber than you look. Of course, I'll marry you."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'm going to make you so happy, Mrs. Call." He smiled, lowering his lips to her. "You won't regret this."  
  
"I know. I love you, Mr. Call." She eagerly kissed him back. "I'll make you happy too."  
  
"You already have. You already have." 


End file.
